Tackling Marine Emissions by Turning CO2 into Pebbles
In an ambitious move towards mitigating climate change, new international regulations have been proposed, targeting a significant reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from maritime activities. These regulations demand a minimum of a 40 percent decrease in CO2 emissions by 2030, placing a considerable burden on shipowners to find viable solutions to comply with these impending standards.
Recognizing the gap in available technologies for shipowners to meet these stringent requirements, Alisha Fredriksson, the co-founder and CEO of Seabound, a London-based initiative, embarked on a journey to devise a practical solution. The outcome of this endeavor has been the development of groundbreaking lime-based carbon capture equipment, designed to be retrofitted near the smokestacks of ships, capturing up to 95 percent of the CO2 emissions from their exhaust.
Seabound’s technology operates by introducing quicklime pellets into the carbon capture system, where they react chemically with the CO2 in the exhaust to form limestone. This process not only prevents vast amounts of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere but also produces a byproduct that can be reused. Once a ship docks, the resulting pellets can either be employed for CO2 capture in future voyages, marketed as construction materials, or processed into pure CO2 for a range of other applications.
The adaptability of Seabound’s technology to a variety of vessel types, including container ships, cruise ships, and dry bulk carriers, is what truly distinguishes it in the field of maritime decarbonization. Particularly noteworthy is its capacity for seamless integration with existing fleets, offering a direct and scalable pathway to reduce shipping emissions.
A significant breakthrough for Seabound came through its collaboration with global shipping conglomerate Lomar, with which it successfully implemented a pilot test on a commercial container ship. The test utilized a prototype version of their system aboard a 240-meter-long vessel chartered by the liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, capturing approximately one tonne of CO2 per day. After this successful pilot, Seabound is now focusing on the production of its first full-scale systems, aiming for a commercial rollout by 2025.
The shipping industry is also seeing other innovative solutions aimed at reducing environmental impact. These include the development of a ship-cleaning robot, which seeks to improve hull efficiency and thereby reduce fuel consumption, and concept designs for a zero-emission vessel, promising a future where shipping contributes minimally to global emissions.
As these technologies advance, they represent critical steps toward a more sustainable shipping industry, demonstrating practical and innovative strategies to combat climate change. By turning CO2 emissions into useful materials like limestone pebbles, initiatives like Seabound not only contribute to reducing global emissions but also offer a glimpse into the circular solutions that could define the future of industrial processes.
